RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Q3 The timing and size of a dividend is important because it's how the market presently values oil stocks
it used to be cash flow multiple.
Then it was production growth rate
Then it was consolidation
Loukas tried to gain market value by trying to consolidate with BTE - BTE resisted (thankfully)
Now the market values based on return of capital
The dividend itself is irrelevant to me as a shareholder - I'll just reinvest it
However the share price is important to me and a portfolio manager like Loukas and the fund that installed him
The present path to an increased share price is a dividend. The size and repeatability of that dividend will drive the increase in share price
debt will not go to nothing. The optimal debt is not zero. Maximizing share price means taking Debt will go to the point that a sustainable (for now) dividend can be paid. That is what is driving the share price
A $1 dividend means a $10-20 share price. The present share price is appreciating based on individual investors guesstimates of when that will happen